Reflections on Arrests in Saudi Arabia

09 November 2017

Dr Jean-Marc Rickli, Global Risk and Resilience Cluster Leader at the GCSP, was recently asked by RTS to reflect on the arrests of at least 11 princes, four current ministers and many former ministers of Saudi Arabia.

On Saturday, 4th November 2017, the newly established anti-corruption committee, headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, detained some of the most prominent individuals in Saudi Arabia, including billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and rival members of the royal family, on corruption charges.

This event appears to be the latest of a series of actions taken by the Crown Prince to “modernize” the country and consolidate his power within the country in which he is already the Defense Minister, First Deputy Prime Minister, President of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, and head of the state-owned oil company Saudi Aramco.

“What we can expect in the upcoming weeks is to see whether the Crown Prince will remain tough and maintain his position and stay on course to his goal,” says Dr Rickli, “or we can expect an internal revolution from other branches of the royal family.”

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The Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP) is an international foundation established in 1995, with 52 member states, for the primary purpose of promoting peace, security and international cooperation through executive education and training, applied policy analysis and dialogue.